£375.00 each plus P&P.
The GWR 48xx/14xx has been the undoubted success of 2017 for WJVintage. Produced in five different liveries, these autofitted locos also matched perfectly with our GWR Autocoaches. They were purchased as matched sets or individually, although the sets have been particularly popular and are virtually sold out – please enquire if you are interested.
Specification for these impressive little GWR tank engines
- All metal construction
- Switchable 2/3 rail operation
- 10–20 Volts DC
- Suitable for 2ft radius curves
- Powerful electric motor with permanent magnets
- Smooth mechanism with clutch drive
If you're interested in purchasing this product please contact us using the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Historical Information
Although attributed to the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GWR, Charles Collett, the 0-4-2T Auto-tank outline can in fact be traced back to a much earlier design by George Armstrong, the 517 Class of the late 1860s. However, the slightly aged appearance of Collett’s locomotive belied a sparkling performance and they proved extremely popular over the entire GWR network. Between 1932 and 1936 at total of 75 engines were produced at the GWR Swindon works and they were numbered from 4800 to 4874. All these locomotives featured autotrain equipment for push/pull use.
In 1946 the GWR experimented with oil as a fuel for steam engines. 8-coupled freight engines were selected for modification and assigned numbers from the 48xx sequence. As a result, all the Auto-tanks were reassigned numbers from 1400 to 1474 and thereafter became known as the 14xx Class.
All 75 of the 14xx (plus 20 of the non-auto-fitted 58xx class) survived into British Railways ownership following nationalisation. However, rationalisation and modernisation meant that they became fairly quickly obsolete and they were all withdrawn from service between 1956 and 1964.
Thankfully 4 engines (all 14xx types) were saved from the scrap heap and survive today in restoration.